Hiccups
by Queen of Black Cats
Summary: When Sarah gets the hiccups, Henri devises a plan to make them go away. Little does he know, he's just creating other problems. Please read and review! Rated T because depending on how I feel I may throw some super fluff in. Sarah and James
1. Hiccups Are Very Aggravating

"Hic, hic, hic…hic!" I walked through the printing room and ambled into the kitchen. The ever persistent hiccupping was seriously irritating me. And apparently James too.

"Sarah, isn't there any possible way to get rid of those hiccups? They're driving me crazy!"

'About what? The fact that Sarah likes you and you're too chicken to tell her you like her too?' I thought. I laughed at my thinking and looked at the plate Sarah had set in front of me.

"Thank you Sarah." She nodded because she didn't want to hiccup again.

"Sarah? Am I allowed to have dinner too?" James asked impatiently. He was obviously used to being served first; but Sarah had served me first today.

"Here your royal maje…hic!" Sarah hiccupped in the middle of her sentence and dropped the plate on James' foot. He swore and jumped up and down on one foot, holding the other. I found this hilarious and cracked up.

"Henri! How can you be laughing at me?" James asked.

"It was funny." I said.

"You should be laughing at Sarah, not me! I mean did you see her face when she dropped that plate? And what about her hiccupping? Forget Paul Revere; Sarah could've woken up the whole city just by hiccupping!" James said in between laughs and gasps for breath. Sarah looked at James and me with a terrifying expression on her face and told us firmly to clean up. Of course there were a few stray hiccups thrown in too. She left the kitchen and I looked at James. We laughed harder than ever while we cleaned and finished eating.

After a while, we cleaned the printing press and set up for the next day. As Sarah picked up the bottle of ink to put in the press, much like she'd done at dinner, she hiccupped and spilled the ink.

"Oh no, that was the last bottle of ink we had!" James groaned while Sarah complained.

"My hair has-hic- ink in it and my- hic- dress is-hic- ruined! I can't-hic- stand the- hic-hiccups!" Hearing this, I came up with a plan to not only get rid of Sarah's hiccups _and_ humiliate her and James.


	2. Henri's Brilliant Plan

In order for my _brilliant _plan to work, I'd have to make sure that Sarah wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. While James and Moses cleaned up the shattered ink bottle and the rest of ink that wasn't on Sarah, I scoped out my surroundings. Since I wasn't allowed to touch the glass, I wasn't needed and no attention was paid to me. I checked to make sure Sarah didn't look up from her knitting, which she was doing rather than hiccupping while cleaning glass. When I was positive she was occupied, I ran across the room and slid behind the couch. I waited and waited and waited until Moses finally left. I didn't want Sarah and James to be humiliated in front anyone besides me; no, I wanted the satisfaction of telling everyone what had happened the way I saw it. (Which obviously meant that I'd be exaggerating a lot.)

"James, where's-hic- Henri?" Sarah asked when she finally realized I wasn't there. I bit my lip to stop from laughing.

'The next time she hiccups, I'll do it.' I thought.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since you broke that bottle of ink, which by the way, you've still got some in your hair." James said.

"Oh, thank-hic!…" she began. I seized my chance and pounced. I jumped out from behind the couch and yelled loudly.

"BOO!" I said. Sarah jumped up from where she'd been sitting moments before and ran right into James. They fell on top of each other and were blushing like crazy. I was gasping for breath.

"Hello, did I ever mention how pretty your eyes are?" James said to Sarah in an attempt to lighten up the mood now circulating through the room. Sarah just glared and tried to get up off of the floor and James. Unfortunately for her, when I jumped, I pushed the couch out and one of the legs had pinned Sarah's dress to the floor.

"How come I can't get up?" she shrieked in exasperation. I gave my response a little bit of thought and then answered.

"Maybe you're attracted to James like two magnets are to each other, I mean, you two _are_ polar opposites." I offered.

"Yeah Sarah, I think that may be part of it." James said. He folded his hands behind his head and watched as Sarah turned several different shades of red.

"You know I'm still on top of you right?" Sarah said in an attempt to snap James into reality.

"Yes, I know that. I'm wondering why though. I can think of some reasons, but I don't think they'd be something to say in front of Henri." he said.

"James! I'd never do that! Now help me get up!"

"Oh fine. Sit up for a second so I can push the couch back." Sarah sat up as best she could without ripping her dress or sitting on James. It probably would have been easier if Sarah kneeled on his chest, but I didn't say anything.

Just as James had reached over Sarah's shoulders, the door to the printing room opened.

"Hello?" a man's voice said. "Is anyone here? I have a stack of reports to have printed tomorrow." The man looked around the corner and saw Sarah and James.

"Maybe this is a bad time. I'll just leave these here." And with that, bewildered man left.


	3. Arguements Have Advantages

I laughed as the man left, thinking he'd come at a bad time and I do admit it probably _was_ a bad time; for Sarah and James. Sarah's dress had finally been freed of the couch and she could finally get off of James. I personally thought she'd stay on top of him if I wasn't there. Then again, if I hadn't been there, none of this would have happened. Sarah stood up and brushed herself off.

"Henri! What were you thinking?" James shouted at me. I shrugged and looked at him. He was still blushing slightly and was now scowling at me.

"Henri, I can't believe you did that!" Sarah also shouted. I shrugged again and turned on my heel to leave. James and Sarah both yanked me back by the collar of my shirt and spun me around.

'Stupid shirt collar!' I thought. I had considered cutting it off the last time Moses had done the same thing to me, but had never gotten around to it. Now, I was silently cursing my lack of memory and my love of procrastination.

"Why on Earth did you do that? Now we've lost a good bit of money because you embarrassed us!" Sarah and James hollered in unison. It was almost like they'd rehearsed it. They looked at each other and blushed again. Now it was getting creepy. First they both yank the back of my shirt at the same time, then they have the same looks on their faces and are both standing in the same position right down to the crossed arms and tapping of shoes and now they both yell at me at the same time right down to the words.

"Did you two rehearse that or something?" I asked, trying to change the subject. It made no noticeable difference.

"Answer the question Henri or go to bed now." Sarah said with a "just-do-it-or-regret-life" kind of edge to her normally sweet voice. I looked at the floor and then looked at Sarah and James.

"Well, it got rid of your hiccups didn't it?" I told her and James. James smirked a little and Sarah stepped on his foot. Apparently, she did not take kindly to being smirked at.

"Ouch! What was that for, Sarah?" James asked. Then they started arguing as usual. I used it to my advantage and snuck away to find Dr. Franklin and Moses.


	4. Paging Dr Franklin

"Dr. Franklin, Moses! Guess what I saw Sarah and James doing!" I screamed like banshee when I located them in the tool shed, discussing a broken something I didn't recognize. The stopped talking and looked at me.

"Speak Henri." Moses said when I didn't continue. I explained my version of the story to them and waited. Moses and Dr. Franklin exchanged looks of curiosity and something I interpreted to be disgust. I was practically jumping up and down waiting for a response.

"Hm." was all they said. I frowned in disappointment. Finally, after several moments of quiet, Dr. Franklin spoke.

"This problem will resolve itself in no time." he said. Moses looked at the older man much the same way I did. "Let me explain. See, if I separate the two of them, they'll never get over the awkwardness and eventually they'll become so used to being apart from each other that if they need to work together or go some place together, they won't be able to face each other."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I still don't get it." I said. Moses rolled his eyes.

"Never mind."

*************************************************************

The next day, Dr. Franklin set us to doing what was needed. The biggest task, buying ink, was to be done before 1 o'clock that afternoon. I slipped on my shoes and was about to open the door to leave with James, when Moses stopped me.

"Sorry Henri, but you have to stay here. Sarah will go with James to get the ink and a few other things." Sarah immediately stopped sewing and pricked her finger. I don't think she noticed though, I think she was too upset about having to go somewhere with James after last night. She reluctantly put down her previous work and slipped on her shoes. I could tell she wanted to protest, but she held her tongue.

"Sorry Sarah, but if Henri went with James, he'd slow him down and that ink needs to be here, with or without you two, by 1 o'clock." Moses said.

"Why can't James go by himself?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, why can't I go by myself? I'm a big boy." James added.

"Because if you went by yourself, that ink wouldn't be here until 1 o'clock in the morning!" James sighed at the lost argument and started off to the store. Sarah shook her head and gave Moses a pout, hoping to get out going. He shook head and pointed to door. Sarah glared at me; I think she knew something was up.

'Note to self: watch out for Sarah.' I thought.


	5. Life is Just Ugh

*This chapter is in James' POV since it wouldn't make sense otherwise. And some fair warning, this chapter is kind of over dramatic, but imaginable for this particular couple/story. So bear with me on this one people. Plus, I typed most of this at 12:35 at night.

* * *

I waited impatiently as Sarah purposely slowed her pace. Crossing my arms, I stopped walking and leaned against a tree, letting the light from the sun hit my face. I closed my eyes and tried to regain the lost sleep from the night before. I hadn't been able to close eyes without seeing the image of Sarah on top of me. Had Henri not been there, I wouldn't have minded it.

'No, bad James! Sarah's off limits! Not that I really care…' I trailed off in thought.

"James! Are you listening to me?" Sarah shouted at me. I opened eyes to find her standing like she always appeared in my dreams. 'Not that I like those dreams…' She was tapping her foot and had her hands on her hips. The breeze ruffled her orangey red hair so it looked like a wave of flames. The only difference between her and her dream self was that she smiled in my dreams.

"Nope." I mumbled. She glared and slapped me. I jumped to the side to avoid another possible slap and put my hand over the place Sarah had managed to whack. I experimented with moving my jaw. It stung like I expected, but I wanted to shout at my female counterpart so much right now that I didn't care; I'd take the pain later.

"What the heck was that for? What's the matter with you? If you wanted my attention so badly, you could've stepped on my foot! But no, you had to slap me! What's wrong with you? What's your problem? Someone's feeling irritable today! You should have stayed in England, with your 'fiancé'! With an attitude like that, you'll never get married! If I knew you were this cruel, I'd have never replaced your locket; let alone with my mother's ring!" I let Sarah have it. When she stepped on my foot, it was the last straw. I'd taken her verbal abuse, her comments and sarcastic remarks for years. I'd had enough. Every bit of pent up frustration towards her was hurled at her. When I was finished ranting about 10 minutes later, I looked Sarah directly in the eyes and told her the three cruelest words I could think of.

"I hate you." And with that, I walked away without looking back. I heard Sarah burst into tears and run back to Dr. Franklin's. I knew it was low, but if you were me, you'd have understood. I shrugged and bought the ink and the other things we were out of and in need of.

'So how's life?' my conscience asked.

'Life is just…ugh.' I said back. I thought I was losing my sanity; seriously, who talks to their conscience?

* * *

I know; short, boring, yawn inducing chapter. But kind of necessary. So pardon me if this ain't to your liking. No one said you had to read or keep reading this story. I would be nice though.


	6. SOS! Save Our Sarah!

I am back! I did not die; I've just been procrastinating. But, I am updating now, so don't kill me. P.S- It's back in Henri's POV, so I hope you can switch gears from James to Henri. P.S.S- Henri's memory is in italics.

I was upstairs rooting through Sarah's drawers, which I shouldn't have been, but was doing anyway, when I heard the door slam. I jumped up from where I'd been and scrambled to get out. The footsteps grew louder and so did the sound of sobbing.

'That is Sarah. I wonder what is wrong.' I thought. I knew I was in trouble now if I couldn't get out. The door swung open and Sarah blindly threw herself onto her bed. I slipped out, but stayed at her door. I listened, hoping to hear what was wrong.

"Oh, it isn't fair! He's never been like that before! Why did he choose to lash out now? Why?" I heard her ask. Then, she trailed off into a long wail. This just made me want to know the whole story.

"Sarah, what is wrong? May I come in?" I said softly. She stopped her wailing, sniffled and told me to shut the door behind me. When I looked at her, I saw just how badly she'd been crying. Her face, normally so pretty and pale, was now red and tear stained. And her eyes, which were usually bright and clear, were now blurred and teary.

"Sarah?" I prompted. She cast her glance down.

"James and I had a fight. He wasn't listening to me while I was talking and I had to get his attention somehow," she began. I nudged her to go on.

"So I slapped him. I honestly tried everything else. I stepped on his foot, tossed at rock at him, shouted at him. My last resort was…" This time, I couldn't persuade her to tell me, so I went with what I had.

"But why were you crying?"

"Because, because… oh Henri! I don't understand! Why did it happen now of all times?"

I was running a bit low on patience, but I didn't want to make it worse by shouting. So, I let her cry until she was reduced to sniffling and then tried.

"Sarah, without crying, please tell me what happened. If you don't, I'll get Dr. Franklin." So she told me about James shouting at her and then walking off, leaving her to walk back herself. I was seething with rage.

"How dare he do that to you! He could have snapped at me and I would not have mined! But to you! That is despicable! I will tear him limb from limb when he gets back! He will regret what he did to you! I will k-" I growled. But I was cut off just as I was going to say I'd kill him with my bare hands. Sarah looked up in alarm and I shot up off her bed.

"What will you do Henri? Kill James? It's not that simple. Sarah, why are you crying on such a fine day? Did you prick yourself with a needle? Or did someone finally tell you what for?" James snarled mockingly from the doorway. He took a step forward and Sarah shook so hard that the bed rocked. I stepped between James and Sarah, hoping to avoid a conflict. James pushed me aside and advanced toward the bed. I looked in desperation at Sarah, praying that she would take the hint and either run, or get behind something. She did. She dove behind her desk. I jumped in front of James again.

"James! I beg of you! Please stop and consider what you are doing! Please leave Sarah be!" I cried as he roughly threw me aside. I scratched at the floor, trying to get enough purchase to run out and get help.

'I'll get Dr. Franklin! No, James could easily knock him away. I'll get Moses. He is strong.' I prayed again, this time harder, that James would only continue to mock Sarah and not physically hurt her, like I'd seen a couple in France do when I was young. I tripped down the stairs and the memories of what the young woman looked like while she was being beaten came to me.

_'He hauled off and punched the girl so hard that blood flowed freely from her mouth. The girl fell back and looked at the man she thought had loved her with tears in her eyes._

_"Why?" she asked. The man hadn't answered, but merely gestured to the woman approaching._

_"I have someone else. Someone that I've had long before you."_

_"I still don't understand."_

_"Allow me to explain. It's very simple, you stupid girl. Andre never loved you. And besides, we have a family anyway. I simply cannot allow you to mess that up." said the other woman. She took Andre's hand._

_"How would I mess anything up?" the girl questioned her fiancé and his wife._

_"Again, it's very simple. You are carrying my child. That is a problem since I already have a wife. Genevieve is also carrying one of my children. We've got one already, but yours will not ever be considered one of mine._

I didn't remember any of the rest of the conversation that the trio had, just the screams of the girl echoing off the walls of the buildings she lay dying between. A few tears escaped from my eyes. I had always liked that girl, Giselle, I recall her being named. She used to play hide and seek with me when she was in charge of me for the day.

I sank down at the base of the stairs and cried. A screech from the top of the of the staircase set me to my rights and I tore out of the back door of the print shop, to the shed where Moses usually haunted.

"Moses! Moses! Please help! James is going to hurt Sarah!"

Dark, creepy and absolutely my favorite chapter to write so far. At first, I hadn't anticipated that it be like this; I mean really- since when has James had it out for Sarah so bad that a slap on the face is motivating enough to beat her to death for? But my imagination went a little crazy and dark, so this is the ending result. Please pardon any spelling and/ or grammatical errors throughout the story. I tend to miss them at 12 in the morning.


	7. This is only an Illusion

The last chapter was a really edgy cliffhanger. Sorry if it was really, really overdramatic, like I thought it was. I went kind of overboard on the murder documentaries. Anyway, just to prove that it's not my ghost typing and posting, I'll post another chapter. (Gasp!)

"Moses! MosesMosesMosesMosesMoses!" I shouted till my throat was raw and my words blended together. I was out of breath and struggling to keep running. I banged on the door like a maniac and fell in when the tall man opened it.

"Henri, what is it?" he asked. He bent down to look at me and noticed a few scratches and forming bruises from James shoving me aside and from my lovely meeting with the stairs. He eyed them up, but ignored them, sensing that there was something more urgent going on.

"James. Sarah. Fight. Beat. Room." I panted in short bursts. Moses stood up and without even bothering to try and make sense of my words, bolted toward the shop and up to Sarah's room, as I could see through the window. He threw open the door and I ran up to the top of the stairs.

"James! What are you doing? What did you do to Sarah?" he barked. My view was mostly obstructed by the large man. All the years of hard labor on the plantations had made the freed slave quite muscular. This however, was not the time to ponder things as trivial as that.

"Henri, go downstairs," Moses said. "Now," he added when he saw me try to protest. I turned on my heel to leave, swung around and darted under Moses' arms, into Sarah's room. I wished I had just listened and gone down.

There was James, sitting on the edge of Sarah's bed, cradling Sarah's limp body in his arms. He was rocking her slowly and murmuring what sounded like apologies. My throat was swelling up with tears that desperately wanted out.

"You… you killed her! You monster! You have killed Sarah!" I sobbed, my background making itself more noticeable with every word I croaked out. By the time I got to the word 'monster', I was speaking full blown French. I stopped crying for a second, in shock that I still remembered my native language. But after I looked up again, I started all over again.

James looked at Moses and me with tears and horror in his eyes.

"She hit her head. I swear I didn't do it. Oh God! I'm so sorry Sarah! Please tell me she's still alive! This isn't what was supposed to happen!" he cried. Moses stepped toward the bed and placed a hand on James' shoulder. He looked him in the eyes and spoke.

"James. I believe that Sarah hit her head. I know you wouldn't have the heart to hurt anyone, let alone your friend. But you need to understand something. You could go to jail for this. They could even decide to hang you. We can't let that happen. You'll have to be sent somewhere else while Sarah recovers, or vice versa. I'll send out to the Adams. They're always willing to assist someone in need. I'll have to really be discreet in the letter though. The redcoats are still going through the mail."

I had a risky and crazy idea, but right now I didn't care if it involved me jumping of a cliff.

"We could move her tonight. Then when we get to the Adams house, I could go explain the situation. If they say no, then I don't know what we'll do." I offered. Moses regarded me with skeptical eyes, but slowly nodded. The gesture said that this was our best chance. I sort of smiled and backed out the room, sparing one last glance at Sarah and one last look of loathing at James.

Later on, as I listened to Moses rummage around in Sarah's closet for a suitcase, I cried.

'If I had never scared Sarah so badly, this never would have happened. Sarah would still be ok, James would still be an idiot and I would not be wishing that I had gone home when Marquis de Lafayette offered to send me.' I lifted my face from my hands and looked at them. Tears had pooled in them and I saw my reflection. I brushed that from my mind and searched for a change of clothes to take with me. I was so tired, but I knew I could sleep on the way to Massachusetts.

"Ack! I am going to have to sleep in the wagon! I will have bruises the size of my hand from all the bouncing!" I suddenly realized and just as suddenly shouted. I slapped my hands over my mouth and hoped that no one would wake up or poke their head in the door to scold me. I was not in the mood to be yelled at. I flopped into the chair at my desk and reviewed what I had just said. It sounded so selfish; I was disgusted at my words.

'How dare I say such things while my friend is in danger!' I mentally hollered. A knock sounded on my door. Moses said from the hallway that it was time to leave. A quick glance at my clock told me it was around 9 at night. Rats. I'd be asleep when we got to the next town.

"Hurry up." Moses told me. I grabbed my suitcase and tore down the stairs.


	8. North Into Trouble

We were half way to Massachusetts when I woke up. My head, surprisingly, did not hurt.

'Come to think of it, I don't hurt anywhere except where I landed when I fell down the stairs.' I mused. Blinking rapidly, I cleared my eyes and they focused slowly, trying to adjust to the darkening skies and the limited amount of light that the wagon cover allowed to pass through. I felt around and discovered that the reason I had not bounced around was because I was wrapped tightly in a thick blanket, meant to keep out the cold, not to immobilize. Or so I thought. I moved my free hand over so I could release my other arm, which was numb. I slowly worked my legs free and immediately regretted disentangling myself from the smothering cocoon of wool.

"Cold! It's cold!" I said. Moses looked at me from the front of the wagon and rolled his eyes. He himself was covered from head to toe in winter clothes, a surefire sign that it was below 32 degrees.

"It is below 32 degrees, I assume?" I asked him.

"Yes. Now if you're smart you'll stay wrapped up this time." came Moses' muffled response. In no time, I was rewrapped, even tighter this time and we were speeding off into the night. About five minutes later, I realized that Sarah was not in sight. I bargained with my chances of getting tossed out of the wagon and having my question be answered. I, being the ever enduring child I am, took the first option and pestered Moses again.

"Where is Sarah?" I asked, rolling my 'R's unintentionally. The cold weather was not my friend. And right now, neither was Moses. He turned his head slowly and glared. "She's in the back, between the paper crate and the wagon box wall. She won't bounce around or bleed any more than she already has." I could see he wanted to rescind the bleeding portion of the happenings, but he knew it was too late.

"Moses, she was not bleeding when we left was she?" He shifted a little on his perch and bit his lip. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

"When Sarah hit her head… well… she didn't hit it as hard as I thought. She was still conscious after she hit it on her bed. James was… not exactly sober when he came back to the shop. The whiskey made him more aggressive. He actually did… hit her. Cut her, more accurately. He had a piece of broken bottle glass and he slashed Sarah a little below her shoulder. She was bleeding very heavily when we left. The blood loss is what caused her to faint." Tears welled up my eyes for the second time that day and began to spill over, only to be stopped in their tracks by cold winter air. James had quite possibly shortened Sarah's life by a considerable amount of time. I was mad now, incredibly mad. If she had contracted a disease or died of blood loss, I did not know what I would do. I imagined that I'd write Marquis and then book it to France. I whimpered. My throat closed tight around sobs and cries. I tried to stop the pain by distracting myself with the scenery. Surprisingly, it worked.

"Wow. That is a pretty tree. Oh, I am losing it!"

"Henri, I'm concerned that you're talking to yourself. Don't make me regret bringing you along." But I knew that in his head, Moses was just as concerned and worried as I was. I wondered what was to become of James, Sarah and the shop. I began to cry again. Moses sighed deeply once again and the urged the horse forward. She nickered and sprang into a frisky gallop, which propelled us into the night. The bright light of the moon as we flew toward it was that last thing I remembered.

I awoke once again in the cold, arms numb and nose running and freezing on my face. I called to Moses when I heard other voices and discovered myself not in the wagon, but on the frozen ground near the wooden wheel of the wagon. I flopped around hopelessly, rolling towards what I knew to be Moses' well-covered feet and knocking into him. He ignored me and I was gearing up to hit him again when I realized that the other voices I had heard were from a trio of Redcoats.

'_Les damner! Nous n'avons pas le temps pour ces conneries!'_ I screamed in my head and then blushed as I ran the words back through my head in English. I was quite ashamed that I had slipped like that and imagined what Sarah would have done to me if she had heard me. Not that she spoke French.

Moses rumbled, "Sirs, we need to get to Massachusetts immediately. I have an injured woman in this wagon that needs medical care. I am in the process of trying to get it for her, but you are impeding my ability to do so, so pardon me, but I will be going now." The Redcoats huddled and nodded sharply, mounting their horses again and taking off. Moses exhaled a breath and tossed me back in the wagon, saying, Yes, he knew I was there, but no, he couldn't answer my question at the moment described.

…**...**

At last we arrived at the Adams' house. When Mrs. Adams came to the door and I frantically relayed the story, every light in the house came on and soon, Sarah was swarmed by people. I was exhausted, having forced myself to stay awake the rest of the ride. I sat down, intending to stay awake until only Mrs. Adams was in the room with Sarah, but I wound up passing out near the fire as someone pulled a sheet over Sarah.

…**... **

Jiminy Christopher! has it been awhile since I posted anything! High school was hectic! Bleh; summer's here, but my days off are far and few between with marching band. I will try my hardest to keep up with my updates! Stay faithful if possible! PS: Sorry for lousy filler chapter. Writers block strikes me.


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